The Yankee Champion

*The Yankee Champion: Or, The Tory and His League* By Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.; issued monthly as part of the "Sea and Shore Series" (No. 18). This Revolutionary War narrative opens on April 19, 1775, at Concord, Massachusetts. Dying patriot Nathan Nixon urges his young son Walter—a sailor recently returned from voyage—to join the provincial militia mobilizing against British troops at the North Bridge. Walter participates in the skirmish, witnessing Captain Davis fall and firing upon redcoats. The British retreat toward Boston, pursued by minute-men and militia gathering from surrounding towns. Nixon's character embodies firm republican convictions, declaring the fallen at Lexington "seeds" of future liberty. The excerpt establishes the story as a blend of domestic patriotic sentiment and military action, grounding Revolutionary narrative in personal family sacrifice and provincial resistance.